Wednesday, November 30, 2011

If there are a trillion tarot decks, how does one select just one deck? I am rather like the children's book about cats...when searching for one, then there are hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats. Well, I do not have a trillion tarot decks.

Yet.

We start with the classics:

Today's Tarot Study Group (Rotarota) gathered together a wonderful, wise group of women and we each shared some of our favorite decks. Which leaves me in high covet mode.

Here are the decks that were shared around the kitchen table in front of the wood burning stove:

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

I wandered into Allied Arts Gallery a few days ago while waiting for the Limelight Theatre to open. My eyes were drawn to unique silver sculptured jewelry ... and then to how they were displayed. Each ring was actually an interpretation of one the Major Arcana. I have never seen anything like this and am still smiling at the delight of discovery.

I spoke with the gallery attendant and it got even better! I was speaking to Nanz herself who happened to be in the gallery that day! Bellingham always knocks my socks off. The talent here is in a ratio I have never known and I've been blessed to connect with many.

I will re-post her blog on the creation of these stunning pieces:

Les Bijoux de Tarot: The Jewels of the Tarot

Author: Nanz Aalund
Released: 8/20/2008 4:18:17 PM

“A symbol really lives only when it is the best and highest expression for something divined but not yet known to the observer. It then compels their unconscious participation and has a life-giving and life-enhancing effect.” - Carl Jung.

In the extraordinary richness and complexity of symbol systems such as the Tarot and Alchemy, we are allowed to see the historical fullness of human creativity. The fascination of these symbol systems is that they resonate with fundamental aspects of our own nature. A symbol system is nothing less than a symbolic map of reality. All great symbol systems attempt to reflect paradoxical truths about the ultimate reality in terms far removed from mundane language. They communicate through metaphor. Alchemy and the Tarot are the symbol systems whose metaphors resonate most succinctly for me.

One of the paradoxical truths that symbol systems address is dualism. Dualism, in philosophy is the theory that in any domain of reality there are two independent underlying principles. Example: dark/light, male/female, thing/nothing, life/death, fear/desire. Alchemy in particular addresses dualism with the allegory of ascendance from a base metal to a noble metal through applications of tests which bring into harmony the dualistic aspects of existence. Being a metalsmith for over 30 years I find the allegory inherent in Alchemy to have profound personal resonance.

I first became aware of alchemical texts when researching the coloration of gold for my undergraduate thesis in Metals at the University of Northern Illinois. In subsequent studies I discovered that Alchemy possessed a rich history. In medieval Europe, Alchemy was a path to spiritual enlightenment through the direct experience of unity in opposite principles rather than blind faith. A powerful medieval church demanded blind faith from the citizenry therefore; alchemy was shrouded in pseudo-science to protect the practitioners from persecution. Equally, alchemical symbols where deliberately cryptic to test the resolve and motivation of the seeker. Alchemy as a practice had itself become dualistic by the late sixteenth century with two distinct views; one was as a natural philosophy which sought to understand God through the great revelations of nature. The second view was more pragmatic, emphasizing Alchemy’s commercial utility.

Several recent scholastic articles have sighted alchemical texts as the historical forerunners to the modern sciences of Chemistry, Metallurgy, and Pharmaceuticals and I have noted these in the bibliography. I have found through my research and through practicing the fine craft of metalsmithing that this duality in the historical nature of alchemy may again be unified. The practical application of information and insight into the revelations of nature become one practice. I have also come to see my fine arts education in the allegory presented by Alchemy. The deliberately cryptic language used in artistic critique has continually tested my resolve and motivation leading me to deeper understandings of my choices in materials, techniques and methodologies. Critique is the application of tests meant to strip away what is base while retaining “prima materia”. Where the practice of Alchemy has provided for me the platform for my investigation it is the history and imagery of the Tarot that has provided the richest soil for creativity.

One way of looking at the Tarot is that it is an attempt to represent the factors which make up human personalities. This attempt pre-dates efforts by modern psychology by more than 500 years and was recognized by Carl Jung in his writings on the collective unconscious and Archetypical imagery. The vitality of a symbol depends on the conscious attitude with which it is received. In themselves the images are meaningless; they acquire “highly potent powers” with meaning only when we grant it to them, by opening our minds to their influence. As this paradox demonstrates, the symbol functions as a psychic mirror in which we perceive our human energies reflected, and, by recognizing their significance, take personal ownership. Once begun, this “projective / reflective” internal dialogue will proceed on a labyrinthine progress which Jung called “individuation”. The Major Arcana of the Tarot is a symbolic map of that labyrinthine progress in the human psyche. Again here is another paradox; for each individual is traveling their own unique path through life yet, the universality is that all paths share one map. The power the Tarot cards hold as archetypal symbols is found in what Jung referred to as “synchronicity” – the occurrence of a meaningful yet acausally related event which might take place during a reading.

The Tarot cards are in effect two decks in one: the 22 card Major Arcana, which have been credited to Arab and Egyptian origin, and the minor arcana, which is the precursor to our modern deck of playing cards, are thought to have origins in India. The Hindu god Vishnu is traditionally shown with four arms holding the disc (pentacle) power of preservation or karma yoga, the lotus (cup) power of love or bhakti yoga, the club (wand) power of wisdom or gnana yoga, and the conch (sword) power of inner realization or raja yoga. Thus the four suits are allegories of the soul’s journey along four parallel paths toward spiritual enlightenment. While I have primarily focused on the imagery in the major arcana for inspiration in my work, the information provided by the minor arcana is also inescapably present.

The third aspect of my research has been to investigate the cross cultural and the millennium long associations of traditional jewelry materials as principle components of symbolism and metaphor. The symbolism of body adornment arose very early in human evolution as evidenced by the recent discoveries of 75,000 year old shell beads from the Blombos cave on South Africa’s Indian Ocean coast. Alison Brooks, an anthropology professor at George Washington University is quoted in the Associated Press sighting the beads as “an unequivocal argument that people are employing symbols to signify who they are.” Lead researcher for the discovery of the beads, Christopher Henshilwood (University of Bergen, Norway) has said “Beads are a serious matter in traditional societies, providing identification by gender, age, social class, and ethnic group.” These beads in particular indicate evidence for the early origin of modern human behavior and the ability to use language since it would have been essential for “sharing and transmitting the symbolic meaning of the beads…within and beyond the group.”

The prevailing prejudice for most of the 20th century has insisted that symbols in body ornamentation are simply manifestations of the culture generating them at best and mere vanity at worst, but this one-sided view is both misguided and outdated. I submit that it is through the genome of our species that we inherit the archetypal predisposition of our most primitive ancestors, and it is on these basic, universal, and persistently active themes that individual cultures work out their set of variations and transmit them from one generation to the next. This transmission is conducted through myth, art and religion, with body adornment being the fundamental core, incorporating all three. Hence the worldwide occurrence of rites of passage and the body adornment which accompanies them becomes the means through which the past is reincarnated in the present and handed to the future. This paradigm offers a basis of understanding when confronted with cultures separated by expanses of time and geography, all ascribing the same symbolic meanings to precious metals and gemstones.

Cross-culturally metals have been given the associated symbolism of the elements; water = silver, fire = gold, air = tin, earth = lead. Then also planetary symbolism; Sun – gold, Moon – silver, Mercury – mercury, Venus – copper, Mars – iron, Jupiter – tin, Saturn – lead, which led to astrological symbolism. The same holds true for gemstones and to list the many associations in this paper would be cumbersome and detract from my thesis. I will offer the findings of my research pertaining to the gemstones with symbolic association to the Tarot since I have utilized some of these stones in the pieces to convey their metaphors.

#0 the Fool – Agate; #1 the Magician (shaman) – quartz crystal or in Native American tradition a tourmaline; #2 the High Priestess – pearl;

I have attempted to materialize my understanding of these symbol systems through the tradition of jewelry making as ornament and personal identifier. The word ornament originates from ‘ornare; to out fit, equip or adorn, as in military or temple equipment’. Ornamentis the fundamental conveyance of beauty and functionality in that it points beyond itself to a greater reality. Ornament functions on an intimate level as it inserts itself between the private or personal and the public or communal space. My work for this collection was directly informed by the space between the opposite principals identified by dualism. The ornament operates as a metaphoric device to prepare the body and to communicate. It draws the attention of the viewer to itself and then redirects that attention toward the greater context in which the ornament performs. The Modernist movement in fine art insisted that “art” have transcendent meaning independent of its context. As ornament, jewelry is radically contingent on and consummates its purpose through context, and ritual, gaining meaning through the “performance” of wear.

My attempts to materialize my understanding of these symbol systems has manifested as a series of two finger rings. The symbolic association of the ring is with the circle as it represents continuity, eternity, reincarnation, the spheres of the sun and moon and thereby the universe. Rings are also symbolic of binding and knots which is why they are still an accepted symbol of marriage today. The form the two-fingered rings took revealed an infinity symbol in several instances. The first investigations of the two fingered ring form were inspired by concepts of jewelry as a defensive weapon, hip – hop fashion and principals from Palmistry. Palmistry is another source of understanding for dualistic paradoxes and their universality in human existence. The human hand is a supreme evolutionary achievement which has made civilization possible. All forms of tool usage, material manipulation, social interactions, business transactions, weights, measures and calculations are all based on the human hand and its ten fingers. With 90 per cent of every human population being right-handed, it follows that the left / right dualistic symbolism associated with this is universal. The symbolic associations of each finger are the most relevant to my work. The first finger has been equated with wisdom, intellectual knowledge and anger. The second finger has, as Pliny sighted in his Natural History, been the digit to express anger and sexual frustration. Since the Egyptian era the third finger has been believed to have a vein that led straight to the heart and thus that finger signifies harmony, community and marital commitment. The pinky finger is symbolic of childhood and imagination. The opposable thumb which separated early hominids from apes is the signifier of the human will.

As my research led me to the property of symbols this project grew so that each ring, it’s placement on the hand and the gemstones used in its creation, refers and responds to multiple aspects of imagery in the Tarot and Alchemy. These rings function in relation to the Tarot and Alchemy much in the same way as a rosary functions in relationship to Catholicism. The metaphoric device is an ornament to be worn as a constant reminder of the principle of inner awareness and transformation that the individual is attempting.

Equally, the metaphoric device is deliberately cryptic to be evident only to the wearer or other practitioners of that symbol system.

Like the symbol systems that informed them the rings themselves are meaningless, they acquire “highly potent powers” with meaning only when we grant it to them, by opening our minds to their influence.

Bibliography:

Ariadne’s Clue: A Guide to the Symbols of Humankind, Author: Anthony Stevens, Published 1999, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey

The Business of Alchemy: Science and Culture in the Holy Roman Empire, Author: Pamela H. Smith, Published 1994, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey

The Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Edited by H. Read, M. Fordham and G. Adler,Published 1978, Routledge, London

The Curious Lore of Precious Stones, Author: George Fredrick Kunz, Reprint 1977, Dover Press, New York

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Are you attached to an old deck or do you jump around higgeldy-piggeldy like me (Sun in the 3rd House) from a Celtic deck to the Zen Tarot?

I just reviewed an old 1971 Rider Waite / thank you very much Pamela Colman Smith (who still doesn't get enough credit for outstanding artwork) and compared it to the Gaian Tarot, concepts and art by Joanna Powell Colbert, published 2011.

In the newest deck I feel the recent downloads, the elevation of energy on the planet, the wisdom as we ride the waves into 2012. In the older deck, I see the history of tarrochi and the cultural overlay of the times.

Nothing is good or bad. There is a place for both. By viewing several decks at the same time, I get the broadest perception of the archetypes.

Friday, November 18, 2011

(Sometimes I am annoyed at the phrase "passes" and want to call a spade a spade. Just say she died. But when it touches deep into my heart, and I see through the mist on the mountain side I know she is just beyond, passed from the physical realm and still ever so close.)

I hung out at Mignon's in high school, called her folks "Mom" and "Dad." Time and life separated us. We reconnected in August on Facebook. We had two strong interests still in common and many more to explore. Wolves and rocks. She raised wolves. My power animal is a wolf. And I would have loved to shared my interest in the energies of stones.Mignon died October 22. A sadness lingers. This morning I dreamed of her mother. When I made the bed, I found this tarot card under the covers.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

I've been following The Magdalene Legacy Tarot on Facebook for some time. This post projects Spring of 2012. This promises to be a deck well worth waiting for!

The Magdalene Legacy Tarot: Lost Keys of the MadonnaWell, unfortunately our timeline never took in the trevails and murphy's laws of everyday living. We have exactly 11 cards to go, all majors. I think it would be safe to say a Sring '12 release. I think 2012 is rather appropriate. I apologize for the time, but its is so close to completion and promises to be unlike any Tarot dck out there! Hang in there friends!! xoxox

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Whale calls...the voice familiar like the one I used to hear when I walked the dusty plains among yucca and rabbitbrush. Whale calls...closer than a text message. I find my silver whale ring I bought long ago on Orcas Island. I hear the whale wail. We meditate on Monday (Moonday). Shimmering shafts of Light from Above flow down into whale cells.

Today, this message comes electronically:

Global White Whale Unity Consciousness Planetary Healing for 11/11/11

Please feel free to forward this email to anyone who may be interested in joining us, all are welcome!

A Powerful Group Meditation to bring in the White Whale Consciousness to heal the world.

We are inviting everyone interested in planetary healing and creating a new paradigm of unity consciousness, to join us around the world with meditation and water blessing, calling in the powerful White Whale energies. This energy is a collective of the highest and purest of the whale and dolphin consciousness and seems to be the 'mother ship' of all cetaceans. She asks us to release fear and embrace love and to expand our consciousness in helping the whales create a protective, healing matrix around our beautiful planet. We would ask you wherever you are in the world at 11AM on that special day, to hold a glass or bottle of water and call in the great white whales to imbue their energy into the water and then bless any local natural water source in ceremony by pouring that energized water into it, whether it be an ocean or a little stream! You might also want to repeat the mantra, "With the guidance of the great white whale, I release all fear, worry and doubt from my being now.... With the guidance of the great white whale I embrace only love, courage and belief into my being now!"

Live Conference Call Guided Meditations

We will start this 24 hour event when the clock strikes 11AM for the first time on 11-11-11, which is in New Zealand. For some of you, that will actually be on 11-10-11 (5pm in New York, 2pm in Los Angeles, 10pm in London). At that hour, you can join us for a live meditation guided by Madeleine Walker on a conference call to get the energy rolling, and then do the meditation, on the hour, as often as you can throughout the day, but especially at 11AM in your location. This will create a wave of white whale energy rolling across the planet for 24 hours. An MP3 weblink of this meditation will be accessible at our Facebook event and Community page for the Global White Whale Consciousness Planetary Healing if you would like to use it. At 11AM on 11-11-11 in the last time zone, which is Hawaii, (1PM in Los Angeles, and 4PM in New York and 9:00 pm in London) we will meet again on the conference call for another live guided meditation led by Anne Gordon (number below).

To find out the time difference where you are for the first opening meditation, Click here. To find the time in your location for the closing meditation Click here.
This is just the start of a movement to bring this white whale energy into our bodies and to spread it across the planet. Please make this a daily practice in the days and months to come. The whales are telling us that this will create BIG changes for all beings. We hope that you will feel drawn to joining us at this momentous time for the 11-11-11 Kick Off of the Global White Whale Unity Consciousness wave.

Painted by our dear friend and whale sister Nori NeumanJoin us for the Live Conference call Meditation for this event.

The conference calls will be at 2pm PST, and 5pm EST, and 10:00 pm in London on 11-10-11 and also at 1pm PST, and 4pm EST, and 9:00 pm in London on 11-11-11. At those times, please call USA phone numbers 916-209-4534 or (619) 276-6333 and enter pin 444999#.

For more information for the inspiration of this event, please click here go to our event page on Facebook or click here to go to our Community Facebook page.

Please spread this message far and wide so that we can all hold hands across the globe while imbuing the planet with this loving energy.

It is a collective of the highest and purest of the whale and dolphin consciousness. You might say it comes from the masters of cetacean masters. It is a very high loving vibration and tapping into this is very helpful for all beings.

You connect to the white whale consciousness just like you do to anything else. Sit quietly, open your heart, call out mentally, use your intention to connect with it, and wait. Nothing new and different to make the connection, but the important part is to hold that energy. Let it wash into your body and soul, bathe your self in it and allow it to flow into each and every cell. This high energy has the capacity to heal you on many levels, so allow it to do just that.

You can work with the white whale energy daily if you like for your own good or the planet. Once you take in as much of the light and vibration as you can, then turn your attention to others, or situations that need healing and allow this energy to flow from you to them/it. In this way you can spread the energy throughout the planet. If enough of you are doing that, you will see big changes.

This event on 11/11/11 is an excellent thing to do. Getting the vibration into the water will help it spread across the planet and heal many beings, including the oceans. We whales are doing this all the time, but there are not enough of us, and there is so much damage in this environment that we cannot keep up. To have a large group focused on this matter will help enormously. And do not do it for just one day. This is something that needs to be done daily for months. Please tell people that this is just the starting day, NOT the only day. This needs to become a practice that is done for the good of the planet on a daily basis. And while people are focusing on doing this for the planet, they will also be getting healed themselves, as you cannot spend time in this energy without being affected.

This is a very good thing and we look forward to feeling these waves of love and light coming through humanity into the oceans. We will add our energy too and together we will see what changes can be made. It truly is time for humans and cetaceans to unite and come together for the good of this earth.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

See it? In the corner...towering toward the ceiling, dominating the kitchen, insisting on furniture arrangements. This beauty jumped into my car last summer, a youngster, tall enough to fill the passenger seat and settle into the seat belt. She spread her wings on the deck during summer, her leaves reddish purple. To survive she could not winter over and I'd miss her if she jumped a plane for Palm Springs.

Michael hauled her through the doorway without leaf damage and she decided on the corner between two windows with a soft glow of warmth from the woodburning stove. Ever since, she rules. The dining table moved. The chairs shift in random arrangement according to the room population. We are blessed by a banana in the non-tropical Northwest. Her green cousins actually deal with winter but she is an exotic beauty and I delight in her magnificence.

This has been a unique week. I joined friends to listen to famed ragtime pianist Bob Milne at the Museum of Radio and Electricity. I couldn't stop smiling.

A rousing discussion of "tinkers" with book group Worthwords!

Now that I'm driving again, I was back at the Alzheimer's facility to teach Seated Tai Chi. Am still teaching Tuesday and Thursday Tai Chi 24, 37 and 48 while John and Liz sail the high seas teaching Qi Kong + my regular Tuesday night Beginning Tai Chi class.

Friday a splendid acupuncture session with Ed Layton of HamsterPuncture, a community based, sliding scale acupuncture clinic with a true healer. My meridians are zinging.

Michael and I impulsively decided to see a movie yesterday. "Moneyball" with Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. The latter should be nominated for Best Supporting Actor. If you've seen the trailer, you've seen the movie. If you're a baseball freak, you won't want to miss it. I'm not but still enjoyed it but it would not be a flick I'd see for the second time.

I'm sitting in front of glowing coals with the aroma of pumpkin bread, the dogs curled in sleeping circles. As Grandmother Moon claims her fullness, have a beautiful week.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

What deck calls in any moment? The one in the glove compartment? The deck on the table by the garage door? The deck under my pillow? Any of the decks so nicely arranged on the tarot bookshelf? The new, open deck splayed out on a collection of gemstones?

Wisdom of Avalon Oracle deck often speaks from the remarkable artwork, calling me when I least expect it. This morning as I settle with a cup of honeyed chai with soy milk, the Wisdom of Avalon deck squawked at me. Well, the raven card was face up keeping a shiny eye on my meandering. The raven says I have a message.

I clack the deck three times on the dining table, fan out the cards. My left hand floats over the deck until a card selects me. The Spider (not my favorite image, though I resonate with its metaphor.) I immediately ask for a back up card. Letting Go.

From the Spider: Creative projects
The question: How can I create a better, more productive and loving experience for myself and others? "...you are always co-creating with the Divine. You are the architect of your own happiness and fulfilment." (Sounds like an Al-Anon meeting.)

From Letting Go:
Releasing attachments, expectations and desires yet fulfilled...you are required to relinquish control and allow the Mystery to act as she will to weave life together..."